


There Once Was...

by aerye



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Background Relationships, Background Slash, Bad Poetry, Enemies to Friends, Friendship, Memes, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 17:45:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14242521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerye/pseuds/aerye
Summary: Sam is writing bad poetry. Barnes is doing his best not to help. Steve is confused.





	There Once Was...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gwyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwyn/gifts).



> Gwyn asked: "In honor of national poetry month, how about sam and steve (or sam or steve) and poetry..."
> 
> But—see I watched _CA:CW_ last night. And there's that scene. Y'know. In the VW bug. Between Sam and Bucky.
> 
> And the minute she asked for the ficlet, a first line popped into my head. And then Bucky wandered into the room two seconds later. And.
> 
> But Steve's still in there.
> 
> First _Marvel_ , so, y'know, I get a handicap.
> 
> Also, apologies to anyone who actually knows shit about poems.

"There once was a man from Brooklyn..."

"What?" Steve looked up from the stove and did that thing with his eyebrows that showed he was clearly confused but not willing to let it show. Or so he thought.

"What rhymes with Brooklyn?" Sam directed his question to the room, which included Barnes, who had just staggered out of his and Steve's bedroom two minutes before, and had his face hidden in a cup of coffee and a comic book.

Barnes looked up. "Your meter's off. It's usually _anapaest_ —ta-ta- _TUM_ —but limericks can seem _amphibrachic_ —ta- _TUM_ -ta. I don't know what you're aiming at but you're missing a TUM." He went back to his coffee. Sam realized he was reading vintage _Captain America_ and Steve was carefully not noticing, a flush across his cheekbones.

"Who are you—Chaucer?" he challenged.

"You gonna write a limerick in Middle English?" Barnes didn't even look up.

"Forsooth, motherfucker."

"Forsooth. Middle English _for soth_ , from Old English _forsōth_ , from _for + sōth_ sooth." Now Barnes looked up and sat up a bit straighter. "Often used to imply contempt or doubt."

"Now he's Merriam-Webster."

"Mrs. Sanderson. English. George Washington High School. Brooklyn. She was—" He looked at Steve. "Thorough." He raised his coffee cup. "But glad to be of service."

Steve looked really bewildered now. He tipped the sauce pan he was holding carefully, enough to fill the cup he was holding and passed it to Sam.

"Thanks." Sam nodded to the counter, where two coffeemakers and an espresso machine gleamed, pristine. "You know you got access to, like, high tech coffee making magic machines. It looks like you could hack into the Pentagon from that espresso maker. You don't need to keep making it in a pan."

"Yeah, well—" Steve scratched the end of his nose. "We like it this way. Those were from Tony. Before—before."

Sam tried to ignore the awkwardness. "Up to you, man. So—what rhymes with Brooklyn?"

"Sin." Barnes again, of course.

"Thin." Sam shook his head, twirled his pen. "Gin. Gym—I mean, close enough, right?" He added it to the list. "Fin."

"He looks like a fish to you?" Barnes turned to Steve. "You don't look anything like a fish."

"You're right." Sam crossed it out.

"Rim," Barnes suddenly offered with an evil grin. Steve colored beet red. "I mean," he shrugged innocently, "close enough."

"Win?" This from Steve, obviously eager to point the conversation in another direction.

"Good, good. Anyone else? No?" Sam cleared his throat meaningfully.

> There once was a _young_ man from Brooklyn,  
>  Who wore red, white, and blue to fight sin in.  
>  'Cept now he's a fugitive…

He stopped. "What rhymes with fugitive? Never mind—"

> There once was a young man from Brooklyn,  
>  Who wore red, white, and blue to fight sin in.  
>  'Cept now he's a fugitive,  
>  Spends his time being copulative…"

"I don't think that word means what you think it means," Barnes said, back behind his comic.

"Ah, yeah, it does."

"Saaam…" Steve.

"Okay, fine. Fine." Sam crossed out a few things, wrote some other things. He cleared his throat again.

> There once was a young man from Brooklyn,  
>  Who wore red, white, and blue to fight sin in.  
> 

"Actually, it's more like evil," Steve protested. "Sin's—" He shrugged. "—different."

Sam gave him the eye. He shut up.

> There once was a young man from Brooklyn,  
>  Who wore red, white, and blue to fight sin in.  
>  'Cept now he's a fugitive,  
>  We ain't being accusative…"

"That sucks."

> "…’Cause we know in the end Cap will win.”

Barnes considered. Then he nodded. "Like the ending."


End file.
